NYC HOLD Honest Open Logical Debate on math reform
What Can A Parent Do?
Ø Supplement your child's math education through:
¨ Skills practice
workbooks. To determine which skills are
expected or useful for your child to develop at your child’s grade level, you
can review and compare:
·
“What Did You Learn Today? What Every Student Should Know And Be Able To Do,” NYC Board of Education’s expectations by
grade. These may be gotten from the
Board of Education or found at http://www.nycenet.edu/dis/whatdidyou/.
·
“Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools –
Kindergarten through Grade Twelve,” which may be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/board/pdf/math.pdf
¨ Mathematics Textbooks. Some
recommended programs are:
·
Singapore Math books. (These
textbooks require a high degree of knowledge on the part of the parent. To get information on ordering, call
SingaporeMath.com, Inc. at 503.722.5671 or go to the website at http://www.singaporemath.com.)
·
Saxon textbooks. (These are
reliable and easy to follow though the home schooling packages may be more
costly than other texts. To get
information on ordering, call Saxon Publishers, Inc. at 800.284.7019 or
405.329.7071 or go to the website at http://www.saxonpub.com.)
·
Math programs adopted by the State of
¨ Tutoring. The type and cost of tutoring programs
vary. Some centers that focus on skills
practice or development are
Ø Educate yourself
Ø Educate your school and community:
¨ Distribute information at
PA/PTA and SLT meetings
¨ Write articles for school
and PA/PTA newsletters
¨ Engage the press; write
letters and Op-Eds for community and city newspapers
Ø Make written requests (or demands) for better programs to:
¨ Teachers and Principals
¨
¨ School Boards
¨ NYC Board of Education
¨ Copy these requests to
elected officials at the state and local levels
Ø Organize
Ø Concerned parents may join in NYC HOLD efforts by:
¨ Joining our e-mail list to
receive e-mailings of news, announcements, upcoming actions or events
¨ Building a network of
parents in their immediate communities, organizing group letters or
presentations of concerns to school and district officials
¨ Sharing experiences,
knowledge and ideas with NYC HOLD
¨ Helping both to develop and
participate in NYC HOLD's efforts to reach one
overarching goal: the establishment of a viable means for the active
participation of parents, educators, mathematicians & scientists in mathematics
education policy and the development of strong mathematics programs and
standards in NYC
Elizabeth Carson, ecarson@nyc.rr.com Denise Matava
Haffenden, mikeden@juno.com
NYC
HOLD Website –http://www.nychold.org– Coming SOON
Shelley Harwayne,
Acting Superintendent Lucy
West, Director of Mathematics
Bea Johnstone,
Deputy Superintendent Mathematics
Initiative
Tanya Kaufman, Deputy
Superintendent c/o
PS/IS 89
333
phone: 212.330.9400 fax: 212.571.8739
fax: 212.330.9480 e-mail: lkmahon@aol.com
Karen Feuer,
President Doug
Robinson, First Vice President
phone: 212.674.5153 phone: 718.248.8073
e-mail: kffnyc@aol.com e-mail: dougrobnyc@aol.com
Danny Yip, Second
Vice-President Winnie
Li, Secretary
phone: 718.871.6673 phone:
212.344.5878 ext. 16
e-mail: yyip@metlife.com e-mail: Winnie@aafny.org
Mary Somoza, Member Brian
Ellner, Member
phone: 212.307.9010 phone:
212.373.3171
fax: 212.307.9010 e-mail: bellner@paulweiss.com
e-mail: gsomoza@aol.com
Gloria Martinez, Member Mae
Gamble, Member
phone: 212.554.0426 c/o
CSB#2 Office
e-mail: gmartinez@gispc.com fax: 212.220.0400
Harold O. Levy, Chancellor Richard
P. Mills, Commissioner
Office of the Chancellor NYS
Education Department
phone: 718.935.2794 phone: 518.474.5844
fax: 718.935.3383 fax: 518.473.4909
e-mail: HLevy@nycboe.net e-mail: rmills@mail.nysed.gov
Councilmember
Christine Quinn Councilmember
Eva Moskowitz Councilmember
Kathryn E. Freed
Attn: Peter
Rider phone: 212.818.0580 phone: 212.788.7722
phone: 212.768.4344 fax: 212.818.0706 e-mail: freed@council.nyc.ny.us
fax: 212.767.4344 Tiffany Lacker, Legislative Aide
e-mail: t.lacker@netmail.att.net
Assemblymember Sheldon Silver Assemblymember Steve Sanders Assemblymember Deborah Glick
District Office phone: 212.979.9696 phone: 212.674.5153
250 Broadway,
phone: 212.312.1420
e-mail: speaker@assembly.state.ny.us
State Senator Thomas K. Duane State
Senator Martin Connor
phone: 212.414.0200 phone: 212.298.5565
e-mail: Duane@senate.state.ny.us e-mail: Connor@senate.state.ny.us
http://www.dnet.org/My_State/State_elected.dnet/NY
e-mail: Letters@nypost.com e-mail: letters@nytimes.com
e-mail: voicers@edit.nydailynews.com e-mail: editor@tribecatrib.com
Town and Village Our
Town
e-mail: LBARR2802@aol.com e-mail: msotedit@aol.com
With your child’s math
program are you concerned about:
·
the
de-emphasis on basic math skills?
·
the lack
of textbooks and standard student materials?
·
the hours
that your child spends writing and illustrating a problem that took your child
fifteen minutes to solve?
·
the level
to which your child is challenged in math?
·
the
failure of
·
the fact
that it seems that officials in many NYC Community School Districts have a
different view of mathematics than you do?
NYC HOLD believes that:
·
basic mathematical skills are the foundation of
an excellent mathematics program
·
textbooks and
standard student materials are important; they ensure quality, consistency
across the program, and are necessary for parent involvement; they serve as a
contract between a child’s family and the school, outlining the goals and
expectations for the year.
·
while writing in math is useful, the primary
emphasis should be on obtaining mathematical skills
·
officials in NYC Community School Districts
should communicate extensively with their parent communities about proposed
programs before implementing them
·
parents and
community members have the right to be heard and provide input to programs.
·
we
should work towards the development of collaboration between NYC educators and university
mathematicians and scientists in the selection and development of mathematics
programs, and the development of standards and assessments for city schools.